Bank of the West
SVP Earned Media
From undifferentiated regional bank to sustainable finance leader
The challenge: to wake up this sleepy, no-name regional bank
We started with a broken engine, driving a machine not built for performance. We had no clearly defined goals, no measurable business impact, no codified program or channel strategy, no KPIs, and very low brand recognition.
The result: moving from uninspired blog and stock-art social to award-winning brand publication and high-engagement social, advertising, and content marketing programs
As Head of Earned Media, I transformed the department to one with a differentiated, strategic, and integrated PESO approach to social media, content, influencer marketing, and brand ambassador partnerships. We needed to grow the business and the brand, spark a lift in brand consideration, and save on budget.
And we did - and then some.
Our strategy was to differentiate the bank by telling unique stories of sustainable finance. We did this by reminding people that banking is an impactful part of our personal and business supply chains, and that sustainability and money are inextricably linked. We needed to tell this story wherever we could, bringing it to life in new and exciting ways.
We delivered our brand differentiation strategy by redefining what a bank talks about, and revealing “a-ha!” moments about what happens to money in banks.
The project in detail
Team & Tech
I began by rebuilding our underperforming and misdirected team through new hires, the reorganization of existing talent, and training. I established relationships with key bank executives to help them understand the value of content marketing, and integrated our team with the bank’s growth engines (LOB Marketing, ABM Programs, Industry Verticals, Digital Acquisitions, Exec & PR Comms, CSR, Events & Sponsorships). We fueled customer experience improvements by bringing relevant, modern and data-driven insights to these business units.
We also introduced performance reporting and accountability on key metrics, to measure our success with increased prospecting through customer engagement.
Content Marketing , Thought Leadership, & ABM
We invested in new tech software and efficiently scaled our content marketing hub traffic, consolidating siloed content hubs into one Webby award-winning site: Means & Matters.
We populated this cutting-edge platform with high-impact, interactive, B2B thought leadership content to enhance strategic product launches and nurture commercial banking leads. We developed a B2B podcast series to champion women in business. We leveraged existing CSR partnerships to create award-winning content: documentary films focused on two Conservation Alliance projects expanded our mutual audiences to like-minded film festivals, businesses and non-profit organizations. We also started an executive thought leadership program across the C-Suite and relevant department heads, and built an ABM and Sales Enablement program to target sustainability-minded companies.
Social Media & Advertising
We set distinct channel strategies to reach targeted audiences (LinkedIn for thought leadership, Facebook for short-form advertorials, Instagram for change-making brand partnerships), maximize our impact and increase active engagement (not passive followers). We used these to leverage our modern content hub, supported by strategic sponsored content and influencer marketing. We sourced outdoor enthusiast influencers to build trust by getting the right people talking about the bank.
We integrated with the paid advertising team to get our content into the paid media mix in a way that helped significantly drive acquistitions, reduce churn, and move the needle on brand consideration.
My time in bullets
Brand: Wrote brand identity deck, rolled out company-wide and leveraged as the core of a sales training and enablement program. Achieved a 50% increase in brand consideration, recovering 10% of the total media budget at a 375% ROI and 10% of the advertising cost. Reduced consumer churn by 66%.
Performance Marketing: Spearheaded multi-channel lead acquisition programs, significantly enhancing sales pipelines. Collaborated on successful ABM program and SMB programs spanning multiple business lines.
Communications: Created internal communications program to inspire and retain staff based on brand values, internal programs, and company impact. Wrote CEO bylines for external comms. Member of the crisis communications team; handled external crisis comms during the 2020 Payroll Protection Program period.
Partnerships: Enhanced environmental partnerships through customized branded content programs.
Internal Leadership: Member of enterprise leadership team; lead role in DEI. Acted as pilot team to participate in new company-wide DEI training and initiatives.